The Church of the Good Shepherd welcomes anyone on holiday or living in the Alicante area. Come and join us at Calle Juan Sebastián Elcano, 25, San Juan de Alicante. Sunday service begins at 5pm with Bible study on Tuesdays at 7pm

How To Be In A Right Relationship With GOD

God hates idolatry which belittles him and is an insult and an affront to him.

God’s glory is way beyond the power of human imagination, he himself made that clear when he spoke to Moses telling him - "I am who I am" Exodus 3: 14 and the Hebrew will also permit the translation - "I will be what I will be". In the first chapter of the book of revelation we read -

"I am the Alfa and the Omega," say the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty" - Revelation 1: 8

These are in effect euphemisms given by God to describe the indescribable and the eternal.

We are human beings - the dictionary describes "being" as a person who is alive/essential nature. Almighty God is described as the Supreme Being, but is would better to say the He is "The Being" it gives meaning to his enigmatic declaration to Moses - "I am who I am".

The Bible glorifies God and tells us that he is beyond all possible comparisons -

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? - Or weighed the mountains on the scales or the hills in a balance? Who has understood the mind of the Lord or instructed him as his councillor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, or who taught him the right way? Who was it who taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding? Surely the nations are like a drop in the bucket they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust -

To whom then will you compare God? What image will you compare him too? As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. A man - looks for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy and spreads them out like a tent to live in -"To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength not one of them is missing - Isaiah 40: 12 to 26

It is not surprising then that God feels insulted to be compared even to the most skilful and costly and revered of images - no matter what specious arguments are brought forth in their defence, they are idols.

To be in a right relationship with God one must come to Jesus Christ, there is no other way, Jesus himself said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No - one comes to the Father except through me - John 14: 6.

It means a radical change of outlook, a change of lifestyle and a forsaking of sin; it requires a personal decision and no religious ceremony or ritual can be a substitute for it. Have you done this, if not, why not now? Confess your sin, confess your need, and ask him in prayer to take control of your life.

The Bible says: To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God - John 1: 12 & 13.

The only true image of the Living God is his Son Jesus Christ and the Bible glorifies him in the same way that it glorifies God the Father. The amplified version (that gives all the nuances of the original Greek text) says this of him -

In many separate revelations - each of which set forth a portion of the truth - and in different ways God spoke of old to our forefathers in and by the prophets. But in the last of these days he has spoken to us in the person of a Son, whom he appointed Heir and lawful owner of all things, also by and through whom he created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time - that is, he made, produced, built operated and arranged them in order.

He is the sole expression of the glory of God - the light being, the out - raying of the divine - and he is the perfect imprint and very image of God’s nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by his mighty word of power. When he had accomplished our cleansing of sin and riddance of guilt, he sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high - Hebrews 1: 1 to 3

Let us bring glory to the Father and the Son through our changed lives, our witness and our worship as we live out God’s plan for our lives.